Review Summary: "We get to choose which forms of life we feel are sacred, and we get to kill the rest. Pretty neat deal, huh? You know how we got it? We made the whole fucking thing up!"
Brendan Nixon is a dedicated musician. It’s been less than a month since the release of Apparitionist’s last EP,
False Euphoria, which marked a transitional period in the band’s sound, and already Nixon has begun to work on new material. This could have been a risky move, as writing so much new music all in such a short amount of time had the potential to lead to a nasty case of creative burnout. But surprisingly, Nixon has managed to avoid such risks in the process. And with Apparitionist’s debut full-length, entitled
White Noise, he’s successfully expanded upon the darker, rawer style from
False Euphoria.
Going into
White Noise, there’s a couple things you’re going to pick up on immediately. First of all, the production is still muddled and feels rather, for lack of a better word, unclean. There’s still a lot of influence from classic hardcore and noise rock bands such as Fugazi, but there’s also some resemblance towards bands such as Lightning Bolt and White Suns, particularly on the first two tracks, both of which also sample soundbites from George Carlin and Bill Hicks performances. In addition to that, there’s also some Orchid influence on the untitled song, with pulse-pounding drumming and fuzzy, uneven guitar structures. Nixon’s vocals have improved dramatically from his previous work, as here he embraces the distortion effects and garbled static noise, choosing to focus on the menacing, unsettling sound of the vocals as opposed to their clarity and understandability. “Overseen”, the longest track on the album, is also quite memorable, going for a slower, more brooding style as opposed to the fast-paced aggression on tracks such as “Deceit”.
But what really makes
White Noise such an immersive experience is all the ambient noise and sound collages that Nixon has sprinkled around in the music. Whether it’s the grating intro of “Zealot”, the ominous silence of the interlude “Sinneslochen”, or the nerve-wracking ambience and guitar in the background of “Industrial”, Nixon always creates a very atmospheric, intriguing vibe through the music. And that’s ultimately the strongest asset of the album. The more subtle, unnerving moments are some of the most memorable ones, and serve as a great contrast to the noisier, more over-the-top sections. So, next time you’re in the mood for some old-school hardcore with just a bit of a psychotic flair to it, don’t pass up on
White Noise. Remember, though: Whatever you do, don’t listen to the voices in your head.
